The county’s credit rating with Moody’s Investors Service has been upgraded from A2 to A1, Stephanie Hurlbut, Ionia County administrator, told the board of commissioners Tuesday.

The rating pertains to Ionia County’s general obligation limited tax debt (bonds), and will result in better interest rates when the county borrows money, Hurlbut said.

“It shows financial sustainability, and I am very happy about that,” she said.

Moody’s report cited the county’s “healthy financial operations as demonstrated by the steady growth in reserve levels (in the general fund and the delinquent tax fund) and presence of additional liquidity” as one of the reasons for the upgrade. It also factored in the county’s “large-sized residential tax base benefiting from its location near two major metropolitan areas,” which Moody’s expects to remain stable, and its “manageable debt burden with average amortization of principal,” the report said.

“Moody’s expects the county’s financial position will remain healthy given conservative fiscal practices that have resulted in healthy reserves in recent years,” the report added. “County management has taken prudent steps to maintain financial flexibility and healthy reserves despite pressure on taxable values, a key factor in the decision to upgrade the rating.”

Hurlbut said she expected Standard & Poor’s to follow suit, raising the county’s rating under its system from A to A+.

Both Moody’s and S&P offer opinions to investors on the relative future credit risk of entities or their debt.

In other action taken at Tuesday’s meeting, the board approved a request by Lisa McCafferty, the county’s healthy officer, to hire a replacement for Linda Droste, a hearing technician at the health department. McCafferty noted that Droste has been “a valuable employee for this county for 35 years,” and said that anyone with young children who has attended kindergarten round-up has likely interacted with her.

“This isn’t going to be an easy slot to fill,” she said.

McCafferty also asked the board to approve a revised fee schedule for services offered at the health department. She said the proposed changes were comparable to those of nearby counties and those of similar populations, and that the department has added some new services and fees and amended others to provide “more value for the customer in terms of services provided.”

The board approved the new fee schedule, which becomes effective today.

The board also appointed a Sanitary Code Committee to study the Ionia County Department of Public Health Sanitary Code, which was last revised in April, 2009. Since that time, there have been changes to state laws pertaining to food service, which make updates to the code necessary.

Page 2 of 2 - The committee will include McCafferty; Ken Bowen, the county’s environmental health supervising sanitarian; two county commissioners, Brenda Cowling-Cronk and Scott Wirtz; and a township official to be named.